App lets homeowners stream art through their TV

Publishing & Media

Artkick enables anyone to broadcast renowned paintings and photography into their living rooms.

Owning a masterpiece is not a pleasure the average consumer enjoys, but being able to hang some art on the walls is something most people would like to do. While some services such as ARTtwo50 have brought the price of original works down to a fairly affordable USD 250, Artkick is an app pursuing a different route by broadcasting renowned paintings and photography into living rooms through the TV.

Available for free on the App Store and Google Play, the app works with any internet connected TV and enables users to browse thousands of pieces of publicly available HD imagery, from Van Gogh paintings to NASA space photos and Library of Congress nature pictures. Users download the app to their mobile device in order to pick their favorite images, which can then be organized into ‘viewlists’ and pushed to the screen on their wall, temporarily turning their TV into a picture frame. In place of a single piece of art, users can easily and instantly alter the mood of their space by choosing a new piece. As well as being able to find new images, the app also gives users more information about each picture.

Although the service is currently free, the startup aims to introduce some premium content for purchase in the future. How else can digital screens be used to spice up the home?